THE MOVIES

I used to go to movies

Before my hearing failed.

The shows were entertaining;

Evil lost, the good prevailed!

The hero got the girl,

The villain went to jail,

Or maybe to the morgue.

It was a cautionary tale!

Today it’s very different.

Life is more complex.

Movies are more daring.

There’s profanity and sex!

Sometimes it’s hard to tell

The good guys from the bad.

The endings unpredictable,

Uplifting, dour or sad.

The movie stars of old

Were famous, every one:

Bogart, Gable, Holden,

Bergman, Hepburn, Dunne.

One can scarcely keep abreast

Of the modern movie scene.

Actors come and go,

Just images on the screen.

Still I go to movies

Though rarely, I must say.

Those over-loud commercials

Even keep the deaf away!

TELEVISION

What a piece of work

Is The TV Industry!

It brings to our living rooms

Amazing variety.

News of the world,

Sports of every kind,

Comedy and drama,

Food for the hungry mind.

It shows events unfold,

Ten thousand miles away,

And right where we live,

Folks at work and play.

It also transmits trash,

Numbing banality,

Infantile commercials,

And crass pornography.

There for every taste,

The best and worst that be,

Projected for to see

In HD and now 3D!

COMPUTER LITERACY

I own an old Aptiva.

I use it every day.

But am I cyber literate?

NO! Not in anyway.

I’ll write a line of verse

(If present is my muse),

E-mail friends and family,

Read the latest news.

I keep a daily journal,

List books that I have read,

Names of old acquaintances,

The living and the dead.

But I wouldn’t know an iPod

From a thing to eat.

Blackberries, Kindles, iPads

Are mysteries dark and deep!

I’m falling far behind,

But don’t give a damn.

I don’t need to be au fait

With hard-drives, bytes, and RAM.

When my PC goes awry,

I call the kid next door.

He speaks to me in riddles,

But I soon compute once more.

THE UNKNOWN

What we think we know

Is but a tiny part

Of what there is to know.

We’re yet so near the start!

We know a little science,

Some philosophy,

But still we flounder lost,

In a vast uncharted sea.

Questions yet to answer:

Is there a God ‘up there’?

If so, did He create us?

Does He hearken to our prayer?

Does life have any meaning?

What happens when we die?

Does religion offer refuge?

Could it be a monstrous lie?

What’s beyond the galaxies?

More light-years of the same?

Or other dimensions

No genius shall explain?

If there’s a caring God,

He gave us minds to think.

If there is no God,

We’re still obliged to think.

Faith and superstition.

Lead to a fruitless end.

Knowledge and the truth

Only mind will apprehend.

LUCK

Did you ever ponder

How luck affects you, pal?

Every day’s a risk

For every guy and gal.

You may win a bundle

On Lotto 6-4-9,

Get a big promotion,

Meet that date divine.

On the other hand,

Your luck may not be good.

You could step into the traffic

And dent somebody’s hood!

You may become disabled,

Wrongly sent to jail,

So many things can happen

On life’s uncertain trail.

Events good and bad

That were never planned

Can change your life forever,

In an instant set their brand.

How we like to think

If we achieve acclaim,

It’s because we’re clever,

We’re masters of the game.

But if we’re truly honest,

We would humbly admit,

We were fucking lucky

We didn’t end up in the shit!

INTELLIGENCE

Some are brilliant from day one,

Others are plain smart.

Most of us a mere so-so,

A few dumb off the chart!

Scholars are the genius types.

They put most of us to shame.

When interviewed on TV,

They make us think again.

They express themselves so clearly.

They strip away the chaff.

Of all they things they know,

I wish I knew, say, half.

I appeal for their indulgence.

I’m in the so-so sphere.

Please speak a little slower,

My mind’s behind my ear!

ELECTRICITY

You hardly know it’s there,

And then the lights go out,

The TV doesn’t work,

All is gloom and doubt.

What the Hell has happened?

Are wires down somewhere?

Has the power plant been bombed?

Is war about to flare?

It’s like the Middle Ages,

Trying to read by candlelight,

Heat from the fireplace,

Phantoms in the night.

Who’s that lurking in the yard?

What’s that noise I hear?

Will it be like this forever?

Is it in my mind, the fear?

At last the lights go on.

It was just a local thing.

Someone struck a pole,

A drunken ding-a-ling.

Electricity is a miracle,

Without it what would we do?

When the power fails,

We appreciate it anew.

Those who supply it

Deserve our encomiums.

Let us be grateful,

At least, till the next bill comes!